The economic sentiment in Cyprus deteriorated further in April amid the fallout of the coronavirus crisis, suggesting a grim outlook for the economy, the University of Cyprus Economics Research Centre said on Monday.

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (Keve) on Sunday proposed a series of recommendations on supporting the economy to kickstart it back to life after the lockdown is gradually eased.

The Research and Innovation Foundation (Idek) in collaboration with the deputy ministry of research, innovation and digital policy on Friday issued a call for expressions of interest aimed at creating an open channel of communication and cooperation to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.

Seven new Covid-19 cases were detected on Sunday, paving the way for the gradual relaxation of the lockdown measures in the next few days, the health ministry announced on Sunday.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global shock, both on a humanitarian and an economic level. In an effort to support the local business community to combat the effects of COVID-19, EY Cyprus has conducted a series of surveys that capture the initial impact in three of the main sectors of the Cyprus economy: Banking, Tourism and Real Estate. The first two reports have been published last week and they capture the realistic collective sense of the industry sentiment and expectations of this crisis. The Real Estate Industry Pulse report will be issued in the coming days.

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government measures implemented to address it, had a drastic impact on the global economy. As a result, businesses are facing new challenges in a destabilizing environment.

CountryProfiler will publish the 2020 edition of the Cyprus Country Report in September.  The publication, produced in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, is widely regarded by Cypriot and international executives as the most influential and trusted resource on doing business in Cyprus.

The cabinet on Thursday approved a series of additional measures to support workers stricken by the coronavirus fallout, also extending existing schemes to include new categories of economic activity that had been previously exempted.

With state hospitals busy wrestling with the island’s coronavirus outbreak, the full rollout of the General Health System, initially planned for June, won’t be taking place until September.

The health ministry announced 5 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 795.